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China's CRISPR Twins Might Have Had Their Brains Inadvertently Enhanced (technologyreview.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from MIT Technology Review: The brains of two genetically-edited girls born in China last year may have been changed in ways that enhance cognition and memory, scientists say. The twins, called Lulu and Nana, were modified using CRISPR, a new gene-editing tool, by a Chinese scientific team to make the girls immune to infection by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Now, new research shows the same genetic alteration introduced into the girls' DNA, to a gene called CCR5, not only makes mice smarter, but also improves human brain recovery after stroke, and could be linked to greater success in school.
"The answer is likely yes, it did affect their brains," says Alcino J. Silva, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. Silva's lab lab has been uncovering a major new role for the CCR5 gene in memory formation and the brain's ability to form new connections. "The simplest interpretation is that those mutations will probably have an impact on cognitive function in the twins," says Silva. He says the exact effect on the girls cognition is impossible to predict and "that is why it should not be done." The Chinese designer babies were created to be resistant to HIV. A team in Shenzhen, China, led by Southern University of Science and Technology He Jiankui used the gene-editing tool CRISPR to delete a single gene, called CCR5, from human embryos, some of which were later used to create pregnancies. The virus that causes AIDS requires the CCR5 gene to enter human blood cells. The scientist, He Jiankui of the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, has been fired from the university as He is under investigation in China. There is no evidence that He actually set out to modify the twins' intelligence.
"The answer is likely yes, it did affect their brains," says Alcino J. Silva, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. Silva's lab lab has been uncovering a major new role for the CCR5 gene in memory formation and the brain's ability to form new connections. "The simplest interpretation is that those mutations will probably have an impact on cognitive function in the twins," says Silva. He says the exact effect on the girls cognition is impossible to predict and "that is why it should not be done." The Chinese designer babies were created to be resistant to HIV. A team in Shenzhen, China, led by Southern University of Science and Technology He Jiankui used the gene-editing tool CRISPR to delete a single gene, called CCR5, from human embryos, some of which were later used to create pregnancies. The virus that causes AIDS requires the CCR5 gene to enter human blood cells. The scientist, He Jiankui of the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, has been fired from the university as He is under investigation in China. There is no evidence that He actually set out to modify the twins' intelligence.
I'm pretty sure there was an X-files episode about this.
If only we could get some politicians to undergo this procedure...
I am seriously looking forward to Battle Angel Nana!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
So how much is it going to cost to get a super-baby in the next, say, ten years?
Captcha: normalcy
If one mutation confers HIV resistance, AND higher intelligence... why doesn't everyone have this mutation? Does it increase metabolism too much or something? Perhaps stroke resistance is considered a downside, in societies where elderly are a drain on resources.
Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
Did anyone really believe the AIDS story? This is China here. The gene just-so-happens to be cognitive boosting was not a happy accident.
Look at what they do to their Olympic athletes. Of course they will attempt to do the same to their future Han-Ubermensch students.
Perhaps it's not a popular opinion but I think the ends justify the means when it comes to genes. The better we become with Gene editing, the better for the progress of the human race. The human race has escaped darwinism because we have an over abundance resources given to the stupid people. If we don't do this, idiocracy is our future.
gets into a bunch of shit because he's working outside of ethical guidelines (btw,it's China), publishes his results and gets roundly castigated (Oh yeah, I think he got arrested. In China. For ethical somethings. In China). Nothing else matters. Dude got arrested in China for ethics. Nuff said.
What are the odds are he did something right, even though people who know much more than me say he's full of shit? I'm guessing pretty low.
Khan supports CRISPER
I say stop with fake concern for life and alarmism and go for it. Plenty of people naturally born have serious mental illness, tons more are low functioning. On top of that abortion is legal. If parents want to participate in gene editing for their children let them, the benefits could elevate the entire human race, the risks only effect one person at a time.
There is no evidence that He actually set out to modify the twins' intelligence.
In this case, even an appearance of impropriety means he will never work as a scientist again.
The "no evidence" part only makes any difference on how long he will spend in prison.
I was reliably informed by slashdotters that genetics play no part in intelligence.
Dalek-like typing detected...
Politicians are not stupid. They are disloyal. They seem stupid because they say they want one thing, and then put in plans that don't accomplish that thing. This is malice, not stupidity, at work.
Their public debates don't happen so they can convince each other of a damned thing. They do that to convince the masses to vote for them. Doing this, of course, requires that they make impossible promises. They are perfectly content to let everyone think they are stupid, because it allows them to get away with it.
Wake up, dude.
Re-read TFS. It is the absence of the gene which confers immunity, not the presence of it.
He got arrested for breaking Chinese imperial ChiCom decrees. It has nothing to do with ethics lol. Seriously, ETHICS, in CHINA? Get a clue.
We do not yet know *every single exact* effect the modification of this gene will do to a human being outside of a lab.
That is the reason why. No data = big problem.
Modern science is inherently cautious... The bonafide "mad scientist" He Jiankui, decided to say "F*** the ethical standards!" and went ahead and made it happen without any standard regulatory oversight.
From what I've seen, various scientific agencies of different countries have been trying hard to keep the CRISPR genie inside the bag... Dr. He Jiankui opened the bag wide open.
And the "doctor" too.
Of course youâ(TM)re polish - you love hosts files and screen doors on submarines, you say you have the gene and then say you donâ(TM)t have it, you babble idiocy constantly, and you write idiot essays nobody reads.
Interesting, but what's the downside of the 'enhancements' done to these children? Likely we won't know until they're in their adult years (if they live that long).
do not welcome our new genetically-enhanced chinese overlords.
The chances of a single gene mod inadvertently helping cognition are less than a random mod of the pistons in your car helping engine performance. That is, about a million to one. Lots to go wrong, very little to "make right" for most of us. The sad part is that we'll never know whether any cognitive improvement (or degradation (not to mention mental health)) is due to the enormous scrutiny they'll be under for the rest of their life or due to some real effects of the mod. Call it the observer effect writ large. The only likely 'smoking gun' will be between some (biochemical) pathology they both display. Lots to go wrong.
Thought experiment: If you have girls with genetically-enhanced intelligence, will the Slashdot MRAs still expect them to go make a sandwich?
You are welcome on my lawn.
evolution only works through accidents.
It's a girl...
We should watch out for them in 20 years or so!
Humanity's hubris score takes a giant leap forward enabling us to do whatever we want under the guise of progress. Or in this case "won't someone think of the children"?
So they are treating this guy like God now.
Now that we have super intelligence, we next need to work on those pecks....
I want a bigger butt,
Health and Life insurance rates based on the presence of good and bad genes.
Highly competitive jobs and university programs only open to those with specific genes.
People with certain genes and abilities have their career paths chosen for them, and are forced to work for the state.
The presence of genes that contribute to violent behavior will be enough to push a jury towards an otherwise questionable verdict.
CRISPR-edited babies, combined with the massive wealth divides of a class-based society, will further stratify humans into Morlocks and Eloi.
"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race." - H. G. Wells
Of a real twin study by zapping only one of the twins. Of course if it was actually just another Chinese "scientific" con job, you wouldn't expect any real science to happen anyway.
The CCR5-delta32 mutation doesn't provide absolute immunity to HIV... it just provides immunity to somewhere between 86 and 94% of HIV strains documented to exist "in the wild". Think of CCR5 as being like a T-cell's docking port for HIV (or alternatively, its identification beacon). Without the CCR5 gene, most HIV virions are either metaphorically unable to "grab on" and "dock" (to infect the T-cell), or are unable to even recognize it as an infectable cell in the first place.
Everyone has two copies of the CCR5 gene. If one copy has the delta-32 mutation, the person isn't immune at all to HIV... but could conceivably survive for a very, very long time after a short (but intense) primary infection. Basically, 50% of the person's T-cells express the gene, and 50% don't. After infection, half are infected and killed, but the remainder are primarily the nearly-uninfectable half. This is why, back in the late 80s and 1990s, there were a small -- but noteworthy -- cohort of HIV+ individuals who didn't progress beyond a certain point to AIDS.
Also, a CCR5-delta32 mutation isn't quite a "get out of jail free" card. People with the mutation, especially a heterozygous (2-copy) mutation, are ultra-vulnerable to respiratory illness. Therein lies another part of the late-80s/early-90s original HIV mystery... people with strong immune systems were easily infected, but people who'd been sick with one illness or another from the moment they were born seemed to be nearly immune to HIV. That's why... they WERE, and their life-long endless sequence of respiratory infections were the biggest drawback.
It's also important to note that late in an advanced HIV infection, HIV undergoes a mutation of its own that allows it to infect cells regardless of CCR5 deletion. The main defense against such mutated HIV is the fact that the same mutation that allows HIV to infect cells with a CCR5-delta32 mutation ALSO makes it less-capable of infecting a new host. The good news is that even the mutated HIV is readily-susceptible to modern HIV meds (and in fact, is generally EASIER to bring under control because the mutated virus itself is less robust and virulent).
Observations comparing this to sickle-cell anemia are apt. Back before effective HIV meds existed, having one or two copies of CCR5 with a delta-32 mutation could mean the difference between living long enough for real treatments to become available, and dying a horrible death within a few months or years. Nowadays, having one mutated copy is almost purely a drawback... a lifetime of respiratory infections, with benefits that are largely moot thanks to the effectiveness of modern HIV meds (which, for all intents and purposes, ARE a cure for "AIDS", even if they aren't literally a cure for "HIV").
Having two copies is somewhat of a bonus if you're otherwise at high risk for HIV infection... but once again, modern meds have largely negated THIS scenario too. If you take Truvada daily (Google: "PrEP"), your likelihood of catching HIV is practically nonexistent. In roughly 5 years, fewer than a half-dozen people worldwide who have been confirmed to have actually taken Truvada reliably have become infected... and AFAIK, all of those cases involved sex with someone who had a fairly advanced case of untreated full-blown AIDS. Putting it into perspective, you'd almost have to be willfully-indifferent and have LITERALLY no standards for whom you'll have sex with, because CCR5-mutated HIV is among the MOST susceptible to HIV meds(*).
---
Warning: very non politically-correct example with WAY too much information follows:
(*) Putting it less-delicately, you'd have to be a total manwhore-pig-cum-dump who likes being blindfolded, tied up, and and indiscriminately taking anonymous loads from random strangers that include crazy homeless people who are visibly ill. We aren't talking "active sex life" here, we're talking "complete abdication of anything that resembles common sense and/or having any standards WHATSOEVER". I think one of the confirmed cases admitted that he collected semen from several dozen guys with high viral loads, then gave himself an enema with it. Put another way... if you repeatedly taunt an angry pitbull, eventually you're going to slip on his dogshit and earn a Darwin Award.
I approve this
So they are treating this guy like God now.
So his followers doesn't listen to him and uses him as excuse to act like assholes?
The rest doesn't believe he exists.
.. will still get fooked by dumb rich people. Bend over beotches!
What you need are guns, lots and lots of guns. That always changes things.
Where are the jokes about creating evil super-villains? Or am I joking?
Actually I think it's way too early to speculate on the effects of this essentially random experiment. In nature most mutations are on the scale from bad to terrible, and the bigger the mutation, the more likely it's fatal.
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
God?
Once an old chinese MiG crashed a new US AWACS.
In China until recently, girls were killed at birth because they were useless in farms. So I dont subjectively believe that CCR5 editing in embryos is for protecting these two girls from contracting AIDS in their farm. And I even less subjectively believe it is to breed a pool of chinese girl farmers who will gradually immune the planet from AIDS, even if they invade Africa in Sun Tzu's style, I mean elegantly, or like Zheng He's sailors genetic offsprings in east Africa.
So it is an old 2016 US publication that CCR5 alteration enhances mice memory, and its publisher says 3 years latter that it very probably enhances human cognition too. The publisher says it will enhance human congnition into impredictable ways and he is visceraly against the eugenic exploitation of his discovery.
OK, so which nazi strikes first ? Should the old chinese MiG make it very clear in the headlines that China intends to stay in the long term game or should China buy AWACS first and benefit from a modern flying turnkey SIGINT HQ ?
Well, unless China's nuclear arsenal get obsolescent, I don't see why the actual flood of chinese bright student in Ivy Leagues would not amplify in the coming years. Because there are billions of chinese and the two farmer twins are gonna be the next Nobel Prizes in Princeton, or in Mainland China if Princeton dont accept asians anymore.
Well, he did create new life.
On the other hand, we do know that he really exists, so... probably not.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Now Chinese students are going to be really good at math!
Why are GMO crops considered good, yet genetically modifying your own genome considered bad?
I can't understand the rank hypocrisy being exhibited about this story.
The fact is in a couple of generations genetic enhancements is be the new normal.
I say embrace it and don't worry about it. In about 2 generations we will be in full gattaca mode
It's inevitable that it will be used extensively. We can make the human species immune to a lot of bad things and smart enough to survive. These smarter people could bring us closer to the singularity instead of waiting on AI to do so.
Kahn was just enhanced. If they end up perfect in every way, then you need to scream Reyyyyyyyyyyyy!
Egg on my face, trucker semen on your face. Looks like I WIN
Enhanced intelligence leads to trouble finding people to date, and being brutally made fun of in life, movies, and television. I am pretty sure everyone who reads slashdot knows. :)
When do the Eugenics Wars start?
The bigger thing is that unlike nuclear, genetic technology can proliferate to the poorest countries with NO oversight, and unlike nuclear the consequences don't stay localized. Humanities philosophy, that progress should flow unimpeded will be sorely tested. As will our level of wisdom and knowledge. Combine that with all the other messes happening and the perfect storm may be coming sooner than expected.
You project your own homosexual issue\odd practices so you'll gladly lick it off his face. You do WIN a flavor you crave hahahaha!
The scariest thing about this is that it appears to be trying to make some kind of super smart prostitute. Umm sorry Twin Prostitutes.
enough said
If the great Pooh bear lives long enough he may find himself being replaced by these girls.
Our current understanding of how human intelligence works and the role genetics play is still somewhat crude.
Who can say that the same genetic code variation that makes mice appear smarter could have profound negative effects in humans. It could be a good thing if the consequences of this application of Crispr were better understood, but they are not.
To be so egotistical to roll the dice like that for personal benefit and whose consequences would be paid by innocent children is psychopathic.
.
Greed is the root of all evil.
LOL! Everything that putrid wanker did stank of eugenics from the start. I guarantee you the ChiComms were all over it. They already harvest organs from "prisoners" to keep their own oligarch class alive and don't give it a second thought. Gene editing for the Peoples' Great Revolutionary Victory would be a logical step.
Oh and before anyone here starts getting all "hey sign me up for the transhuman upgrade path" remember they can just as easily insert a gene for a fatal protein deficiency that they can then use to blackmail recipients into being Proper Citizens Supporting the Rise of the Proletarian Struggle or else you don't get any of the protein supplements you need to keep your intestines from exploding.
And -- all these edited genomes walking around are 100% inheritable! They only need to get a few percentage of the current population -- and then give these Patriotic Elements of the Peoples Resistance enhanced reproduction support -- to eventually have a large percentage of the population under control.
This is not even speculation. This is guaranteed 100% to be the actual plan.
Humanity is screwed. Don't forget to get your kids immunized if you want to get the best post-partum gene upgrades.
=^..^= all your rodent are belong to us
Youâ(TM)re not your you fucking moron
> many "nordic" types have it
It's also more common among many Slavic populations. The Vikings had colonies far inland in areas like eastern Slovakia and western Ukraine.
Source: American of 100% Slovak-Ukranian ancestry, yet quite unexpectedly, 64% "northern European/Scandinavian" according to my report. One mutated copy (according to the same report), and a lifetime of runny noses and sinus infections to thank my Viking ancestors for.
I meant that they wrote "He" instead of "he". A joke, not a very good one I guess.
right, and the military tested every john dick and harry who showed up in 1982 for a lack of CCR5 delta 32, 15 years before anybody even knew what that mutation even was.
jesus. i can tell you're a bad liar because of the way you utterly freak the fuck out.
Like usual, dumbass, you just don't understand. You get shouted down because we don't fucking like you. You can claim the sky is blue and post pictures as proof, and I'm still gonna tell your lying ass to shut the fuck up. This also applies to Ahuxley if that shitbird is reading.
Apk wants big Black trucker Dick in every hole!
Ahh the fun times we had
- Dax
Shure it was all accidental. With population over a billion and fierce competition there's always girl fodder available.
You're, not youâ(TM)re, you fucking moron.
(You do realize those fuckup-quotes can be disabled on your ShitPhone, don't you?)
Not as many as you do. Apk sucks zero. You on the other hand clearly project you do a lot of them.
Apk does not want the things you say he does. You do projecting you do.